STRANGE SEA MONSTEES. 



97 



marine salamander. "It was apparently of a gelatinous 

 (that is, flabby) substance. Though keeping up with us, 

 at the rate of nearly ten knots an hour, its movements 

 seemed lethargic. I saw no eyes or fins, and am 

 certain that the creature did not blow or spout in the 

 manner of a whale. I should not compare it for a 

 moment to a snake. The only creatures it could be 

 compared with are the newt or frog tribe/' The 

 animal, however, may possibly belong to some class 

 related to the skate. An enormous creature of the 

 skate tribe, without spines, and with small eyes, would 

 present an appearance closely corresponding to the 

 description given by Captain Webster. The mouth 

 and gills of the skate are on the ventral or under 

 surface, and the back- fins on the tail, and often very 

 small. But a skate having a total length of two 

 hundred feet would be as great a novelty in zoology 

 as a monstrous marine salamander. 



When we remember how few fish or other inhabi- 

 tants of the sea are ever seen compared with the 

 countless millions which exist, that not one specimen 

 of some tribes will be seen for many years in succes- 

 sion, and that some tribes are only known to exist 

 because a single specimen or even a single skeleton 

 has been obtained, we may well believe that in the 

 sea, as in heaven and earth, there are more things 

 " than are known in our philosophy/' 



